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[Primer] Rakdos (Hyper) Aggro - MTG Standard

Rakdos (Hyper) Aggro

This is a Primer for a competitive Rakdos Aggro deck. Rakdos Aggro takes advantage of the powerful cards made available in both Black and Red colors, giving the deck access to resilient early-game threats and brutal finishers. It is emerging one of the more powerful decks in the current meta. It became good in the metagame due to its hyper-aggressive nature, easily outracing the slower control decks by hitting for tremendous damage very early on. Cards like Falkenrath Aristocrat and Thundermaw Hellkite help differentiate the Rakdos Aggro game from the traditional Red/X aggro lists. Additionally, Rakdos Aggro takes a different stance on the RB aggro decks of the past by being primarily a Black deck that includes Red mainly for burn and removal.

Being competitive, it doesn't take into account budget or card restrictions. It suggests the best options of cards available.

Please offer opinions/feedback and post your own decklists along with with how testing has been going. I will update the initial post with your feedback, and can list your deck under the sample decklists if you want.

Here is a list of card options available to us followed by the decklist I am currently testing:

Card Options:

Creatures: Spoiler:- Creatures:

Gravecrawler
- Practically immortal with a significant power. The deck runs enough zombies to make this an excellent card.

What's your opinion on slotting Rakdos Charm into the sideboard? (The effect it'd be used for, i.e. the third for a finishing effect, is not very useful except against a few types of deck, hence sideboard.)

I prefer Rakdos Charm for its first two effects, actually. At least by me, there is a lot of Reanimator and UW Flash. The charm takes out graveyards which hinders both decks, and can also remove Runechanters Pike. It also has a decent enough use against Bant Control with its graveyard-removal option. It keeps them from recycling their graveyards via Elixir of Immortality and using Sphinx's Revelation again.

Still, it's definitely a sideboard card, and using it over the others is very much a matter of preference.

And it definitely needs the kill spells. I learned that last night when I was playing AGAINST this deck. They take care of things like opposing Thundermaw Hellkites, Thragtusks, Restoration Angels, Angel of Serenity, Trostani and Centaur Healer (Victom of Night), and Rhox Faithmender. All cards that give Aggro decks some trouble. Otherwise this deck would hit me down to 5-7 life, and I'd stabilize with something like Thragtusk, Huntmaster, Centaur Healer, and then BOOM! drop a bomb and win. It needs the kill spells.

Incidentally, this deck is the reason Thundermaw Hellkite is now the most expensive card in Standard at $37. I know it'll drop once the meta adapts to deal with Aggro (Naya is well-positioned for it), but it's right now the priciest thing you'll find.

Well, do what you can. Remember, these are stock lists, there's always room for movement and change in them. Thundermaw is dangerous and so good because he hits and instantly negates the lifegain from cards like Thragtusk. He straight-up KILLS opposing planeswalkers.

However, many of these Rakdos aggro decks don't use him. There are, essentially, two routes you can go with this sort of deck. The black-heavier and red-heavier routes. Black-heavier is the deck-list I posted. Red-Heavier forgoes the Zombies for cards like Vexing Devil (sometimes), Rakdos Cackler, Rakdos Shred-Freak, Stromkirk Noble, Lightning Mauler, and Ash Zealot.

Still, the core of the deck is basically Hellrider and Falkenrath Aristocrat.

Yeah, I was playing the other day and the guy I was playing agaianst (the owner of the store I was at) used this deck and my token deck almost won, we were tied at 3 life and he had 2 Hellriders out. Attacked with both so I took 4 damage.

Token decks are actually one of the better decks at out-pacing RakDeckWins because they can put just as many creatures out onto the field in shorter time. I really like Junk and Esper tokens right now, but either way, Lingering Souls is a very strong fit against the deck.

I comboed Lingering Souls with Parelle Lives and had 8 tokens on the field in a turn (I was happy). But his was more Red-Oriented.
and with the sample list, shouldn't you put Mizzium Mortars somewhere on it. That card can completley destroy fields.

The idea isn't to wipe the board. Overloaded mortars is a T6 play. They want to have won by then. And especially in the black-centered deck hitting the RRR is very hard. That's why they don't want too many Thundermaw and Hellriders.

aaahhh makes sence. I might build this deck and mess with it for a while. When I get home tonight I'll post my decklist I'm running now. But it's similar to the B/W token deck I used to run I just threw in Green.

Back on the Rakdos train, I think what this deck might need is a place to dump its mana late-game. The deck's goal is to kill quickly, but that's not always going to work. Sometimes there's just too much lifegain or they get an early board-wipe and stop you. Once that happens, the game begins going longer.

This deck has the ability to sustain the midrange game. Falkenrath Aristocrat, Hellrider, and Thundermaw Hellkite can keep it in the game. Even a Geralf's Messenger is nothing to take lightly. But once the game goes longer, the board gets more mucked-up with opposing creatures and it's harder to hit damage through.

I've seen some people advocate Hellion Crucible...but Sacing that land only puts you back. I think Stensia Bloodhall is a better utility land if you're going to run any. And a decent mana-dump is Devil's Play. Especially because you can use it twice.